Amec eyes NNC

Engineering group Amec - which employs about 400 people in the West Midlands - is planning to expand its presence in the nuclear industry with the £25.3 million acquisition of a nuclear services business.

Engineering group Amec - which employs about 400 people in the West Midlands - is planning to expand its presence in the nuclear industry with the £25.3 million acquisition of a nuclear services business.

The group said it had offered to buy NNC Holdings from shareholders including its management, investment group 3i and British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL).

Amec believes the deal would strengthen its own nuclear services business and position it to win "a substantial slice" of the annual £2 billion operations, maintenance and decommissioning spending soon to be available to private UK firms.

NNC provides engineering solutions and safety consultancy services throughout the life cycle of nuclear sites in the UK, Canada and across the former Soviet Union. In February it revealed a £280 million contract with National Grid, Transco for gas service upgrades for sites including Cannock, Coventry, Stafford, Stoke, Walsall, Wolverhampton and West Bromwich.

The group provides reactor technical support services as a core activity, but has diversified into waste management and decommissioning and related markets in the defence and non-nuclear sectors.

It generated operating profits of £5.6 million on a turnover of £86.6 million in the year to March 31.

Amec said the acquisition would complement its existing strength in the UK and French markets, where it has worked with BNFL, the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and Electricite de France for several decades.